DATABASE CONCEPTS

The database concepts is a major part of the study for the testers because data storage and processing is one the important requirement from the client. The information has to be stored in every organisation. e.g.: Banks, library, flight companies, hospitals, universities etc. The information is stored for the future reference. The information can be used for future reference to generate the reports. The data in any organization has the below roles:

data can be used to identify the problems, performance of various entities in the organization.
data is used to analyze the various scenarios in the organization.
data is used by the management for administration
data is used to provide the explanation for various events
data is used to monitor the performance and progress in organizations.
data is used for planning, monitoring and controlling.
data is used for making major decisions in the organisation.
Since the data plays very important role in any of the organisation, below factors become important:

data should be stored in organised way
it should be possible to generate the any formats of reports
the report generation should be quick and available as and when required.
Hence the data is stored using software systems.

The database testing is also called as backend testing. The user interface is connected to the database. The information entered by the user is stored in a database on the database server. The tester validates the data in the database for its correctness, authenticity, format, location etc which is termed as database testing. The database testing is performed by software testers along with or after functional testing. Below are some of the basic concepts or terminologies associated with database testing:

Entity:
It is anything about which information can be stored. Eg: students, employees, courses, patients, departments, sales, raw materials, inventory, etc.